


What do you do when you can't crawl

by Zoadgo



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Canon Divergent, Escaping Mount Weather, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-27
Updated: 2015-01-27
Packaged: 2018-03-09 06:25:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3239636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoadgo/pseuds/Zoadgo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Miller keeps track of everyone who leaves the sleeping quarters and everyone who wanders back in. He sets up a system in his head that rates the time they’ve been gone and how many people they left with, trying to assign an “abducted by Mountain Men” risk rating to everyone he can’t see from his vantage point on the bunk. He promises himself that he’s not going to lose another person, not after… Not after the last one went missing.</p>
<p>He had felt so bloody useless when he’d gotten away. The run through the halls had been exhilarating, knowing that they were going to get away, and that they’d be able to try again to contact the outside world in a day or two. He’d gotten back to the quarters first, then Jasper and Maya. And then he started waiting. And waiting. And waiting some more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What do you do when you can't crawl

Miller keeps track of everyone who leaves the sleeping quarters and everyone who wanders back in. He sets up a system in his head that rates the time they’ve been gone and how many people they left with, trying to assign an “abducted by Mountain Men” risk rating to everyone he can’t see from his vantage point on the bunk. He promises himself that he’s not going to lose another person, not after… Not after the last one went missing.

He had felt so bloody useless when he’d gotten away. The run through the halls had been exhilarating, knowing that they were going to get away, and that they’d be able to try again to contact the outside world in a day or two. He’d gotten back to the quarters first, then Jasper and Maya. And then he started waiting. And waiting. And waiting some more.

No matter how long he stares at the door, nor how many people leave and return, there are two people that never end up coming through it. His two closest friends down here, hell maybe ever. And they might never walk through any doors again. If they’re luckier than any of them could hope to be, Clarke and Bellamy will come to save all of them before Monty and Harper are killed. If they’re just lucky, they’ll be kept drugged until the Mountain Men finish whatever it is they’re doing to them.

But Miller knows they’re not that fortunate, never have been. And it is all his damn fault. No matter what he does, shit always goes wrong when he’s involved. He could plan something to within an inch of its life, and it would still blow up in his damn face. Hell, on the Ark he’d had access to guard rotations and all the information he could ever need to be an excellent thief, yet he’d still gotten caught, imprisoned, and almost ruined his father’s life. He couldn’t realistically expect Earth to be any different, so he should have known that being friends with them would just endanger Harper and Monty. But Harper had been so hard not to like, strong and sarcastic, with a hell of a temper matched only by her sense of humour. And then there’s Monty.

Miller had tried so hard to stay away from Monty. Monty, who could fix broken things when Miller could only destroy them. Who always knew just the right thing to say, the perfect mix of genuine compliment and joke that Miller could actually accept it. He’d known, when he found himself smiling at him as Monty enthused about something sciency with Jasper one day, that he would get that boy killed. At the time he had just hoped that his bad luck would hold off a little longer.

Three people return, and then one person who doesn’t technically count as part of the group that resides in their little enforced sanctuary. Maya walks through the doors a little too quickly for Miller’s liking, drawing the attention of a few of the delinquents, and doubtlessly some of the guards on the way there. He hops down from his perch, ready to growl something vaguely threatening, when Jasper steps in front of him.

“Maya. What’s wrong?” Miller wants to punch him. There’s so much wrong, and he’s worried because little science girl is shaken up? He knows he’s being unfair, but fuck it, Miller’s not a particular fan of being fair when life decides to screw him over.

“I’ve found out where they’re keeping Monty and Harper. We can get them out, but we have to move now.” Well, at least she doesn’t beat around the bush.

“How do we know it’s not a trap?” Maya and Jasper give him identical looks simultaneously, like he’s the lowest form of idiocy capable of drawing breath, and Miller glares back at them. “Just asking, it’s a valid question.”

Jasper turns away from him with an exasperated sigh, and nods slightly to the rest of the people in the room. “What about them?”

“They’ll be out of the Mountain before you guys, there’s someone coming to get them out. And right now he’s providing the best distraction for us to free our friends, so...” Maya just gestures urgently to finish the sentence and walks out of the door. Miller hopes that the distraction is as good as she thinks it is, because they’re not exactly being subtle in their almost jog through the hallways.

Miller’s mind sets to work as soon as they take the first unfamiliar turn. He makes a map, attempting to force his feet to remember the path they draw through twisting corridors and ID locked doorways. Maya swipes them through each one, leading them into more and more restricted areas. Eventually she guides them into a room from which no halls or doors lead, and Miller would shout at her over the dead end if not for his fear of being discovered by the guards.

“Through here.” Her voice is a hiss as she removes a grating, allowing them access to another room through a ventilation shaft. Why they made the shafts so easy to climb through, Miller’s not sure, but he damn well appreciates it now.

They come into a room, cool and damp in a way that’s entirely unpleasant. The air seems to cling to him, and it just makes him entirely uncomfortable. Of course, it could be the moaning that’s doing that.

They’re not sounds that he would have expected to come from humans. If you could still call the caged creatures that. They groan and vocalize in voices devoid of hope, where language has been forsaken due to their imprisonment. Miller feels sick as he walks past cage after cage of twisted bodies, thin hands reaching out for him as if they could steal some of the life that allows him to walk beyond their bars.

He has to keep telling himself there’s nothing he can do for these people, and even so he barely makes it out of the room. Had the passage to the next room been ten paces further away, he would have started smashing locks in order to at least try and help. It would have just gotten them all killed, but Miller still feels like a slightly worse person as the last voice fades behind him. For a moment, there’s just a steady dripping of water from somewhere indistinct, then he hears the whispering.

Miller grabs Jasper’s shoulder and pulls him to the side, pressing a finger to his lips in a sign for silence and tapping his ear. Maybe Maya was wrong, and there are some scientists talking about the experiments in the next room, whispering to themselves. Or maybe they heard their footsteps and are whispering to a guard. Or maybe Maya wasn’t mistaken at all, and she knew damn well that there would be people there. She could have lead them right to their cages, and Miller was so blinded by his desire to get his friends that he played along until the very end.

“-be okay. Just listen to me, okay? They-They’ll find us, and we’ll get out of here, and we’ll kill those pale bastards, yeah?” And Miller could almost cry when the voice becomes distinct enough for him to recognize, the words proving to him that Harper is still alive and ready to fight. But the next hushed sentence makes Miller break into a run, dread sinking its claws deep into his soul. 

“Come on, Monty, just open your eyes. Say something, nod, _anything_.”

Miller is vaguely aware of the empty cages he runs past, of footsteps following him after a moment of confusion on their owners’ parts. But nothing matters to him except for the fact that he might be able to save his friends, or that one of them might be past saving. He sees the two occupied cages at the far end of the room, a desperate and fragile looking Harper peering down at the still form that Miller knows must be Monty. Harper looks up at him and pure joy is written plain on her face for a moment before she begins shaking her head violently.

“No, you can’t be here, they’ll catch you too. And they’ll drill into you and they won’t stop, and oh god, please just run.” She continues to babble, and Miller wants to help calm her down. But he drops to his knees instead, attention fixed on the back presented to him, on the spot of blood he can see seeping through the thin robe. He reaches out hesitantly, fingers lightly brushing cool skin. Cool, but not cold. A faint glimmer of hope attempts to live within him, but Miller can’t allow that yet.

“Hey, Monty, come on. We’re gonna get you out of here.” He keeps his voice to a low rumble and sets to work on the lock. It’s almost depressingly easy, and he thinks that the Mountain Men must not know at least five of their current group are pretty damn good at picking locks. He wonders if they would have been able to break free from the cages in the end, or if their captors would have drugged them into stupors.

A small groan comes from the cage in front of him as Maya and Jasper finally catch up and set to work on freeing Harper. Miller attempts to coax Monty into consciousness with half whispered assurances, promises of safety if he would just wake up. He glares violently at the lock under his hands until it springs open, and Miller almost wrenches the door off in order to free Monty. He crawls half into the cage as the other boy finally rolls over, eyes half-focused and pain clear on his face.

“Miller?” Confusion replaces agony for a moment, and Miller smiles as comfortingly as he can. He reaches out an arm and slides it under Monty’s armpits, half dragging and half lifting him out of the cage.

“Yeah, T, it’s me. Were you hoping for another dashing hero?” He attempts humour, to distance himself from the very real emotions brewing in his chest, but he sees tears gather in the corner of Monty’s eyes and he knows that it’s useless. He wraps his arms around Monty, wishing he could block all harm from befalling him with the simple gesture. Monty is still in his grasp for a moment, but then he hesitantly hugs Miller back. Within moments, Monty is clinging to him, head buried against Miller’s chest, and Miller wants to kill every fucker who ever laid a finger on him.

He has no idea what Monty’s been through, other than something that has obviously injured his hip. But clearly it was unpleasant, because he’s never seen him this… vulnerable. Miller just holds him as Monty shakes slightly, whispering innocent words in order to avoid betraying the dark rage rising within him as he thinks about the Mountain Men experimenting on Monty. 

_I’ll kill them all_ becomes “You’re safe now.”

_They’ll suffer for what they did_ becomes “We’ll get you out of here.”

_I will rip them limb from limb_ becomes “No one’s going to hurt you again.”

And Miller would stay there as long as Monty needed, a stationary spirit of vengeance keeping guard over the angel in his arms until he was given leave to wreak his revenge. He’s not moving until Monty lets him go of his own free will, even if the world ends up going to shit around them. He’s vaguely aware of Harper’s cage finally being opened, and her being helped to unsteady feet by Jasper and Maya. But most of his attention is focused on stroking Monty’s hair - God, it was as soft as it looked - and keeping him safe.

The others look at them for a long while, waiting for Miller to get up and join them, but he is not moving. He just bends his head and rests his chin on the top of Monty’s head, tucking the boy completely against him. Of course, his own wishes for Monty’s safety get pushed to the side as the silence is broken.

“Miller, we have to go!” Jasper hisses at him, and Miller grinds his teeth to avoid from shouting in response.

“He can’t walk.” His response is just as violent of a whisper. Monty whimpers in his grasp, attempting to stand on his damaged leg, but Miller keeps holding him tight. No, he’s not letting the boy injure himself further.

“Then carry him, okay? We have to go, Nate.” Harper he’ll listen to, so Miller lifts Monty carefully in his arms and stands. It’s a good thing he had been strong even before coming to Earth, and the planet had just toned his muscles further. He has a feeling it’s going to be a long walk, but there’s no way he’s going to put Monty down.

“It’s okay, I can walk.” Monty’s voice is a murmur in the relative quiet as Miller starts walking. He shakes his head firmly, jaw set.

“It’s okay, I’ve got you.” His voice is soft in contrast to the barely concealed rage in his stance. He’s got him, and no matter what happens on their way on, Miller is not letting him go.

**Author's Note:**

> Title totally from Firefly, btw, I'd forgotten about that quote until I wrote this. Also, I was super active last night, I guess? So this happened, and [coldsaturn](http://coldsaturn.tumblr.com) ended up calling the English language useless while editing this. You guys are so lucky she exists! Also, she's writing her own take on the idea that inspired this, so look forward to that beauty in the next little bit!
> 
> Come talk with me [on tumblr](http://jonnmurphy.tumblr.com)! And thanks for commenting/viewing/leaving kudos <3

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [You Fall Slowly, And Then All At Once](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3257507) by [Coldsaturn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coldsaturn/pseuds/Coldsaturn)




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